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Final Fantasy Is Shaking Up Every Magic: The Gathering Format

20Jun

By JoseNo Comments

Final Fantasy Is Shaking Up Every Magic: The Gathering Format

Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy is the first Extended Universes premium set to be Standard legal. After only one week since its official release, many Final Fantasy cards are finding their way into competitive Standard builds. From enchantment reanimation with 'Yuna, Hope of Spire', and 'Cecil, Dark Knight' mono black midrange, to my personal favourite Gruul Delium with 'Terra, Magical Adept'. Final Fantasy's influence doesn't stop there, though. In only one week, 'Vivi Ornitier' and 'Y'shtola, Night's Blessed' have made their way up to the 200 most popular commander list on CEDHREC.com. From Midgard to Modern: Why (Almost) Every MTG Format is Impacted Are you playing with the new Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy cards? How do you feel about them becoming a steadfast in players ...

Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy – Most Expensive Standard Set Ever

13Jun

By JoseNo Comments

Features

Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy – Most Expensive Standard Set Ever

Most Magic: The Gathering players are, by now, used to the high prices of cards, booster boxes, or other premium products that Wizards of the Coast has been releasing at overwhelming speed in the last few years. The Final Fantasy set marks a stark difference, simply by the fact that it is Standard legal. Players excited to play their favourite characters from the rich Final Fantasy lore are going to have to dig deep in their pockets to do so. Cloud and Sephiroth are coming to an LGS near you Yes, it's an exciting time to be a Magic: The Gathering player, undoubtedly so. With this set and the SpongeBob Secret Lair that just came out not three months ago, you can now play Commander and sit across 'Squidward, Sarcastic Snob', 'Cloud, Midgar Mercenary', and 'Chun-Li, Countless Kicks'. Th...

Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025 Roundup

10Jun

By Cameron J KeywoodNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming, Features

Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025 Roundup

Laura Kate Dale is a prominent voice in the games industry and a full-time video game critic who focuses on accessibility and representation in video games. She hosted the 2025 edition of the Access-Ability Summer Showcase—a celebration of accessibility and representation in gaming. Sponsored by Many Cats Studios, the event once again celebrated developers who build inclusive games for all players. True to its name, the showcase offers high accessibility. Multiple formats were available, including versions with American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), and a fully audio-described edition voiced by accessibility consultant SightlessKombat. For anyone interested in how far accessibility in games has come—and where it’s headed—the full showcase is well worth watching. ...

Drop Point Preview With Tiny Indie Studio

30May

By StuartNo Comments

Features, Previews & Early Access

Drop Point Preview With Tiny Indie Studio

Recently, I received a very interesting email. It was purely titled Days Gone Meets Rust. This piqued my interested as these are both games that I absolutely love. Fast-forward a few days, and I'm getting an invite to a special, exclusive showing of Drop Point. The brainchild of Tiny Indie Studio. A small studio from Hamilton, New Zealand. Could you read this before I Drop my Point? Jumping onto a video call, they had an awesome presentation ready to go. I honestly felt the excitement from the start of the call. It also helped that both Mike (Project Manager) and Piripi (Art Lead) from Tiny Indie Studio were absolutely awesome guys to talk to! Gameplay Drop Point is a base-building, base raiding, harvesting, crafting, and combat survival game. The game is set on an island where a large...

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – May 2025

1May

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – May 2025

It's time to have a look at the 3 games bundled for free with PlayStation Plus Essential for May 2025. There is one stand-out for me this month, and it's a game that will take over your life if you let it. These games are available between May 6th and June 2nd. Remember that even if you don’t plan to play these games immediately, you should still add them to your library when they become available. That way, you can check them out at any time — as long as you have an active sub. Balatro | PS5, PS4 Genre: Rougelike, Card Game Longevity: 10hrs+ | Trophies: 32 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 90 | OpenCritic: 92 Balatro is the poker-inspired, deck-manipulation roguelike that you never knew you needed. Take a deck of playing cards, manage ever-changing rules and enhancements, and play yo...

Everyone Can Play: Highlights of Gaming Accessibility Conference Europe 2025

29Apr

By Cameron J KeywoodNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming, Features

Everyone Can Play: Highlights of Gaming Accessibility Conference Europe 2025

When I walked into the hotel on day one of the Gaming Accessibility Conference (GASIG), I already knew I’d leave full of inspiration, information, and new connections. The organisers reserved a private guest space for us, and most of the action took place in a spacious area usually reserved for wedding receptions. My table sat right at the back and centre, surrounded by fellow attendees from all corners of the industry—from tech giants like Amazon to indie accessibility champions like Many Cats. Now, let’s get into the actual content. I won’t cover every talk in detail—just a few highlights—but if you want to catch any sessions from this year or past conferences, you’ll find them on the IGDA-GASIG YouTube channel. Ubi Gets Stuck In Jawad Shakil, QC Manager at Ubisoft India, showca...

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – April 2025 Update

17Apr

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – April 2025 Update

A little later than usual, here's our summary of the PlayStation Plus Games Catalogue update for April 2025. This month, users are treated to not one, but two Day One releases. As usual, there's a decent mix of genres to chose from, so have a look at what's on offer below and check them out with your PS+ Extra or Premium subscriptions. Blue Prince | PS5 Genre: Puzzle, Roguelike Longevity: 15+ Hours | Trophies: 17 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 93 | OpenCritic: 89 A game that I am currently losing many hours to, Blue Prince is a magnificent puzzle game that has staggering depth. Each day, you must enter the Mt. Holly estate and decided how to lay out the many rooms available to you, all in an effort to reach the secretive Room 46. Along the way, you'll uncover additional mysteries ...

LEGO Beauty and The Beast Castle Preview

15Apr

By CharlotteNo Comments

Features, LEGO

LEGO Beauty and The Beast Castle Preview

It's no secret we love Lego here at Thumb Culture. We have a whole section of the website dedicated to it after all. Recently we got sent the biggest set we have to review yet. But what could it be? Be Our Guess I know the article title gives it away, but indulge me here. Followers over on our TikTok got a sneak peek into this mysterious new review set. We even gave viewers a chance to guess which set it was. Would you have been able to guess it? https://www.tiktok.com/@thumb_culture/video/7492015115676437782 Sacré Bleu Of course we have very smart followers and people guessed it rather quickly. What else could it be but the LEGO Disney Beauty and the Beast Castle?! This is one of my favourite Disney movies and even just looking through the instruction booklets got me emot...

10Apr

By Kyle McGrath1 Comment

Features, Previews & Early Access

Crimson Desert Preview Press Event

I was luckily enough to be invited to London by Pearl Abyss to play their up-coming game Crimson Desert. There I watched a video explaining the game’s combat and some information about each of the four bosses. Afterwards we got to get hands on with the game, and what a treat it was. Warning! GIFs in this article contain flashing lights. Skill is the key Within this preview event I got to play as the main character Kliff in a small segment from the game. In the full launch we will get to venture into the large continent of Pywel, but sadly I didn't get to see this, this time! I’m looking forward to checking out the various towns and biomes we might get. If you’re looking forward to Crimson Desert, why not check the Steam Page here and give it a wishlist! Gameplay The focus of the...

Omniplex Cinema Birmingham Press Event Roundup

7Apr

By CharlotteNo Comments

Features

Omniplex Cinema Birmingham Press Event Roundup

Thanks to the team at Nox Lumina, we got invited as guests to the Omniplex Cinema Birmingham for a Minecraft movie event. I say it was a Minecraft movie event but really we were there to experience the swanky newly refurbished venue. And experience it we did! Please Switch Your Mobile Devices Off If you're in the UK and unfamiliar with the Omniplex Cinema brand, that's not a surprise as it's cinema chain that originated in Ireland in 1991. Fast forward to 2023 and that same chain bought out the Empire Cinemas beginning their UK Cinematic journey. Now here we are in 2025 with Omniplex now being a 3rd generation family owned company, with a 14 million pound refurb behind them. I'll hold my hands up aside some video footage, which you can see on our TikTok, I don't have anything to sho...